Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone for a major drinking water supply project in Dehri, Rohtas district. The Rs 13.47 billion project will use water from the Sone river to provide drinking water to the towns of Aurangabad, Dehri, and Sasaram. The scheme includes the construction of a pump station, a refinery unit, and a pipeline system to deliver water to these towns. During the event, the CM also inaugurated Bihar's first Centre of Excellence at the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Dehri, run by TATA Technologies in collaboration with the state's labour resource department. The center will offer advanced machinery training in 23 fields, including robotics and computer programming, to unemployed youth. The initiative comes in response to declining groundwater levels in south Bihar, particularly in the Kaimur plateau, which has created a drinking water crisis in several districts. Additionally, the CM distributed ownership papers for homestead land to 2,000 landless individuals in Bhaisaha village, Dehri block. Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary were also present at the event. (HT)